Fifty-five years ago would be 1953. Reaganomics and the supply-side buffoons hadn't happened yet. I think the GI Bill was passed in 1954--could be wrong--but it seems like the last time that mode of thinking was in vogue would have been prior to the crash of 1929. All of that taken into account, it seems like the writer was thinking way ahead of his times.
                Of course, now we are living with the reality of the failure to heed the warning.